Runaway
by FemaleChauvinist
Summary: When a fellow student disappears from Nessie's first-grade class, she takes it upon herself to find him, and Edward has to explain to her why she has to obey human authority.


**Disclaimer:** While the attempt has been made to be medically accurate, some artistic license has been taken, and statements made by Carlisle and other medical personnel are not to be regarded as authoritative.

Recognizable characters and plotlines are the property of Stephenie Meyer; all original characters and story © 2017 FemaleChauvinist.

 _Do not post without permission. Do not copy/print without including the above disclaimer in its entirety._

 **A/N: I read an article in the paper about a child who left school after becoming upset in class, and was found at the house he had recently moved from. And I thought,** _ **What if Nessie had been in that class…?**_ **As usual, the date of this story is correct for my alternate history, as described in my profile. Barbie**

 _June 2007_

 _Nessie two A/E seven, claiming seven, first grade_

 **Nessie**

I was quiet as Allasyn talked, telling me about plans her family had for the summer. I hadn't told her yet that I would be moving this summer…I grew too fast for us to stay in one place longer than a year. I would miss Ally; she and I were best friends. I wondered if Daddy would let me write to her, at least for a little while…

My attention was drawn for a moment to a commotion across the playground. Two boys were arguing, and one of them — stocky Vincent — was nearly in tears.

"Nessie!" Allasyn called, taking my attention away from the boys.

I grinned and pumped harder, trying to get my swing even with hers.

"Bet if we jumped now we'd go flying!" Ally exclaimed.

For a second I was tempted, but I knew better. "We're not s'posta jump," I reminded her.

Allasyn wrinkled her nose. "I wish your brother was here; I like when he lets us jump and catches us."

I didn't bother telling her that Daddy was my uncle; since neither one was right, what difference did it make?

When the bell rang for the end of recess, I dragged my feet in the tire rubber to slow down. Standing on one foot, I emptied crushed tires out of my shoes before running across the playground to line up behind Mrs Ainsley. *****

It was as we were marching past her to go inside that Mrs Ainsley noticed Vincent was missing. At first she thought she had miscounted; I heard her quickly counting heads again. Then, sure she was short a student, she had another frantic moment determining which one it was.

She whispered with the aide for a moment, and then the aide took us to our classroom while Mrs Ainsley stayed outside to look for Vincent on the playground.

When she came back to the room, the principal was with her. "Children," he said quietly, "one of your classmates is missing. Did any of you see Vincent hide or leave the playground area? Sebastian?"

"No, sir."

"Jerry?"

"No."

"Allasyn?"

"No."

"Rensmee?"

"N-no." It felt like lying, but I _hadn't_ seen him leave. I wondered if I should tell about the argument I had heard…but I didn't think a human would have been able to hear that across the playground. I settled for glaring hard at the boy he had been arguing with, hoping to frighten him into being honest.

I was disappointed when he answered in the negative like the rest of us, but maybe he really _hadn't_ seen where Vincent had gone.

The principal sighed. "Thank you, class. Please tell your teacher immediately if you remember anything that might help us find him."

I bit my lip. If I told…Teo _might_ have seen which direction Vincent ran. But would it give us away? I suppose I could have _seen_ them arguing from across the playground; I didn't have to say I'd heard it.

But then I saw Teo's scared expression. He knew he was the reason Vincent ran; if he'd known where he went, he would have said so.

When a thorough search by all the teachers of the school building and grounds yielded no sign of Vincent, the principle called the police and his parents…and I decided something had to be done.

I wasn't really quite as fast as a vampire, but I could move quickly enough that the humans would barely see me from the corner of the eye; they'd think it was just a shadow. I ran out of the building and across the playground to where Vincent and Teo had been arguing. It was easy to pick up his scent there and follow it through the break in the fence.

There had once been a trail here, but it was overgrown now; even without his scent I could easily see where Vincent had pushed through, and wondered that the humans hadn't noticed it. Maybe they were too tall to pay attention to a break in the fence that I had had to bend down to squeeze through.

As I moved at human speed so as not to tear my dress on the brambles, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.

I pulled it out and flipped it open. "Hi, Daddy." I didn't need to look at the screen; only Daddy would know I wasn't in class.

"Nessie, just what do you think you're doing?"

I giggled; it was fun when he pretended he couldn't hear my thoughts. " _You_ know, Daddy! I'm going to find Vincent."

"Nessie, you can't just leave school property like that; how do you think the teachers will feel when they realize they have two children missing?"

"But I'm not missing, Daddy; _you_ know where I am."

Daddy sighed. "We're not talking about what I know, Renesmée. Now turn around and go back before they notice you're gone and call Carlisle and Esme."

"But what about Vincent, Daddy?" I protested as I slowly turned around. Papa and Mama Esme wouldn't be worried even if the school _did_ call; they knew Daddy could hear me.

"Vincent's fine, baby," Daddy assured me, "and finding him isn't your concern."

I bit my lip, still not really seeing the problem. "Okay. Bye, Daddy."

"Goodbye, Renesmée. I love you."

 **oOo**

 **Edward**

After nearly seven months, I no longer felt it necessary to monitor Nessie constantly through the school day. She had the human act down to perfection, and there was nothing in the school that could harm her. Well, kids could be cruel sometimes, but I knew Nessie would mentally call my name if she was being teased or bullied.

For some reason, though I still reacted whenever anyone thought of any Edward, the name Daddy only caught my attention if it was in Nessie's mental voice. I was glad of that; so many children used the name for their fathers that it would have been worse than when Edward had been popular as a given name.

Even though I no longer monitored Nessie's thoughts, I still listened to them more often than not. I needed something to occupy myself during the long, dull, repetitious classes, and my little girl's mind was more pleasant to be in than the petty thoughts of the teenagers around me.

She knew I was listening; the best times of all were when she shared part of her day with me.

 _Daddy, isn't that the prettiest shade of blue?_

 _Giggle Look, Daddy! See how lopsided I made that S!_

So much of it was trivial stuff, but it was never boring when it was in my little girl's mind.

She wasn't thinking to me now; she was thinking about our upcoming move and wondering if I would let her write to Allasyn. I hated having to tear her away from her friends; it broke my heart even more knowing that she would never complain out loud. She understood why we had to move, and accepted it with a touch of unnecessary guilt for growing so fast.

It wouldn't do her any harm to write Allasyn, I decided. Of course, she would grow bored with it as she left the human girl further behind in age, but I didn't imagine Allasyn would continue the correspondence beyond two or three letters, if that. In the fall, Nessie would make friends at her new school as easily as she had here; maybe subsequent partings would be easier once she understood that.

Nessie's attention was briefly caught by an argument between two boys across the playground, and then I winced as she considered jumping from the swing. Not that she would be hurt, but it would look odd for her to land on her feet — and Allasyn likely wouldn't be so fortunate. I wondered if Nessie realized how much Allasyn followed her lead.

To my relief, Nessie quickly decided against jumping, and as I expected, Allasyn followed suit. She had suggested it hypothetically, and was really a little scared of jumping from so high, but she would have done it if Nessie had. All things considered, Allasyn was probably better off without a half-vampire best friend who sometimes forgot to act quite human.

I smiled slightly as Allasyn wished I was there to catch them as they jumped, then winced slightly as Nessie wished again that she could call me Daddy in public. My baby was so good about not complaining about the necessities of our vampire lifestyle, but I heard how hard it was for her sometimes. Maybe I should have let Carlisle and Esme adopt her at birth… but even then she knew our voices; knew who her true parents were. Not that I had been much of a father to her until then; amazingly, she adored me anyway. I prayed that she didn't know…would never find out… what I had wanted to do when I first found out Bella was pregnant.

When the bell rang, Nessie emptied her shoes… horribly impractical shoes for the playground; I was surprised they had stayed on while she was swinging… and ran to join the lineup of kids at the door.

I heard through her mind when Mrs Ainsley realized one of the students was missing. Vincent…I didn't know him by name, but saw in Nessie's mind one of the two boys who had been arguing earlier.

I ranged my mind out, not sure what mental voice I was looking for, but listening for the immaturity of childhood…perhaps hurt or anger as well. Surely a six-year-old couldn't have gotten too far in the fifteen minutes or so since Nessie had heard him arguing?

Finally I began to pick up on a mind that must be Vincent's; childish thoughts, so hurt I couldn't get much more than raw emotion and a few scattered words. He was pushing through an overgrown trail in the woods, trampling down brambles and what I recognized with a grimace as poison ivy.

He emerged into the backyard of what, if I had my bearings correct, I knew to be an empty house; the older couple who lived there had recently sold it and moved to Florida. Vincent's grandparents, perhaps? He certainly seemed to know the yard; he made a beeline for a large tree and climbed up into a treehouse in the branches. He tucked himself into the furthest corner, wrapping his arms around his legs and burying his face in his knees. ******

Well, he was safe enough there; it wasn't my responsibility to keep track of the kids for the school. If they hadn't found him by the time we went to pick Nessie up, I would find a way to give someone a hint. It was a little disquieting, knowing that the people who had failed to keep track of Vincent were the same ones to whom I had entrusted my daughter…but they could hardly be expected to have eyes everywhere. At least this was a rare occurrence — the first time in Mrs Ainsley's fifteen-year career, according to her panicked thoughts when she first realized he was missing — and Nessie knew not to go running off by herself.

I returned to Nessie's thoughts as the principal asked them if they had any clues as to where Vincent had gone. Nessie glared across the room, trying to intimidate Teo into telling about his and Vincent's argument; I couldn't help but smile when I pictured Nessie's kitten-scowl. Humans actually did find it a bit unsettling, but I knew her to be so utterly harmless that when she tried to appear fierce, my first instinct was to laugh.

I hid that reaction, of course; I had played many games of running from a growling, snarling Nessie. She loved when I let her catch me, and would shriek with laughter if I spun around and caught her instead, screaming with fear that was half real as I pretended to bite her neck.

Emmett had tried playing that game one time; I had snatched Nessie from his arms before he knew what was coming and informed him in no small words that I was the only vampire allowed to even _pretend_ to bite Nessie. Even including Bella; her love for Nessie might be stronger than all her vampire instincts, but she was still technically a newborn.

I switched my attention between Nessie and Vincent, making sure the boy wasn't doing anything dangerous. In Nessie's thoughts, I heard when a search of the school property turned up nothing and the principal made the decision to call the police and Vincent's parents.

And then my daughter decided it was her responsibility to track Vincent down. The humans were watching every student more closely than ever, but still Nessie ran from under their eyes with no trouble.

Following her example, I slipped from my class without the teacher realizing I was gone, pulling my phone out of my pocket and speed-dialing Nessie's cell in an empty restroom stall. She was already following Vincent's track through the woods; I hoped to goodness half-vampires didn't get poison ivy.

Nessie picked up instantly, guessing who it was with unerring logic, once again causing me to marvel at the dichotomy between vampire intelligence and childish immaturity in her mind. She could do trigonometry in her head, but even when she finally obeyed me and returned to school, she didn't fully grasp what she had done wrong.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose as I put my phone back in my pocket. _Nessie, Nessie, Nessie…_

In all the months she had been going to school, I had never picked up before on the fact that as long as she knew she was in my range, Nessie thought I was ultimately the one watching her. Which was true in a sense, but not as far as Nessie was taking it. She obeyed her teachers to blend in as a human, not because she thought they were currently in authority over her. I was fairly certain she understood about obeying her vampire relatives when they were watching her, but wondered uneasily if she regarded humans as too "inferior" to be obeyed in any case. She had said she thought it was all right to leave because I knew where she was, but I couldn't help being afraid she would have gone anyway.

Bella glanced at me curiously as I slipped back into my seat beside her; only she had noticed my absence. _What happened, Edward?_

"I'll tell you later, Bella," I murmured; no human would notice our vampire-silent conversation, but I still preferred not to carry on long ones during school hours.

I continued to follow Nessie's thoughts as she returned to class without incident. Not understanding why I hadn't wanted her to go looking for Vincent, she came to the conclusion that she shouldn't mention the hole in the fence to anyone, either. I wouldn't have had a problem if she had, but as I knew Vincent to be currently safe, it didn't bother me that she didn't.

It was in the car on the way to the elementary school that I told Bella what had happened, including my knowledge of where Vincent was.

 _Edward!_ she thought, horrified. _His poor parents…_

I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose again. "I know…I'm the one who's been hearing their thoughts, Bella love." I had been trying not to, but they had grown harder to ignore as their fear and worry increased. Several times I had been tempted to call and tell the teachers where to look…but I had been posing as human long enough to know that I couldn't. Not unless Vincent was in immediate danger.

Never mind that if it had been Nessie who was missing and I found out later that someone knew where she was and didn't tell me, I would cheerfully tear him to shreds.

I lightly touched Bella's hand as I parked the car. "Go pick Nessie up; I'll put the humans on the right track."

She nodded and headed toward the school building as I approached one of the police officers. "What's all the commotion?"

He glanced sharply at me. "What's your business here?"

I jerked my head toward the building. "Picking up my niece." I heard the surprise in his thoughts; no one expected a teenager to be an uncle, though I had heard of aunts and uncles who were actually younger than their nieces and nephews.

"So…what's going on?" I persisted with my best vampire charm…he wasn't making this very easy for me.

He pursed his lips, deciding after a moment that there was no harm in telling me. "One of our students seems to have gone missing," he said stiffly.

Not much of a lead-in, but apparently the best I was going to get. I let my eyes drift toward the playground with its chain-link fence. "You know, there's a break in the fence behind the jungle gym," I said almost offhandedly, "with kind of an overgrown path behind it. A young child might be able to squeeze through there."

"Thank you; we're quite capable of finding him on our own," he said dismissively. But his gaze had automatically followed mine to the fence, and he had already determined to follow up on my hint once I left.

With a mere nod to him, I turned and headed back to the car.

Bella was just assuring Nessie that no, Daddy wasn't "mad" at her, and I sighed, mentally shaking my head. Nessie could be so insecure…I had heard it before, yet each time it surprised me anew. What had we ever done to make her think our love was conditional?

I might have thought it meant that she was aware, at least subconsciously, of what I had wanted to do to her, if I hadn't read those same insecurities in Bella's journals from her human years. Nessie was so much like her mother…in looks as well, though it seemed I was the only one who could see that.

As I approached the car, I saw Nessie sitting on Bella's lap in the front seat. I quickly scanned the police officers' thoughts as I got in; none of them were paying attention to us, so I could let her stay where she was. At a word from me, she could slip through to the back at vampire speed if she had to.

As I pulled out of the parking lot, Nessie's thoughts were only half directed at me as she wondered why I hadn't wanted her to find Vincent.

I sighed. "It isn't that I didn't want you to find him, baby." I glanced sideways at her. "Do you want to talk about this now, Nessie, or wait until we get home?" I certainly didn't mind Bella being present, but I wished I could hold my little girl in my arms…to assure her of my love. I hated when I had to scold her.

She shrugged, turning her head away and cuddling against Bella.

"Nessie, I'm not mad at you."

She half turned toward me. _But you said —_

"You were a very good girl, Nessie; you went right back to school when I told you to." She sat up a little straighter, a small smile on her face now. "I just need to explain to you what you did wrong so it won't happen again." I smiled at her. "I know you wouldn't intentionally do something you're not supposed to, Nessie."

Her thoughts brightened; she was sure now that I wasn't "mad"; that I still loved her. So I decided to put off the discussion until we reached home.

As I pulled up the drive in front of our little house, Nessie was half thinking of the roof. I smiled as I took her from Bella's arms and easily made the jump. She especially liked the roof of this house for some reason; I had found her out here one morning when she had waked while I was still…distracted…and climbed out her bedroom window. I didn't mind, as long as she didn't try jumping off without supervision.

 _Don't let Nessie sit on the roof in that dress, Edward,_ Bella warned. Ah, yes; that had also been the morning she got tar on her nightgown, and I'd had to use my venom to get it off her skin.

I pulled my jacket off and spread it for Nessie to sit on, sitting beside her on the shingled roof. For reasons I couldn't quite grasp, Bella and Alice didn't seem to care if I got tar on my clothes, but were upset if Nessie's were ruined, which she would outgrow before she could wear them more than two or three times anyway. I had given up trying to understand women's logic. **#**

Nessie sighed contentedly and leaned against me. _Daddy, did you tell them where to find Vincent?_

"Yes, baby."

 _I could've found him, Daddy._

"I know, angel."

 _And I_ _ **wouldn't**_ _have bitten him, because I was tracking, not hunting!_

I chuckled softly; the idea of her biting him honestly hadn't even entered my mind. "I know you wouldn't have bitten him, Nessie. Will you let me explain?"

 _Okay, Daddy._

"Renesmée," I began slowly, unsure how to explain this to her, "when I leave you with humans, I'm putting you under their authority. That means you have to obey their rules, even if you think you're in my range."

Nessie wrinkled her nose, making me want to laugh despite the seriousness of the conversation. _Why, Daddy?_

"Because they're adults; they make the rules to keep children like you safe."

Nessie laughed. _I'm a vampire, Daddy; I could protect_ _ **them**_ _!_

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "You're _half_ vampire, Renesmée," I corrected, careful to keep the irritation out of my tone, "and listening to adults keeps you from getting into situations humans can't save you from."

 _ **You**_ _don't, Daddy,_ she pouted.

Ah. Of course. My vampire-intelligent daughter was calling me on my complete disregard of human traffic laws. In that light, I could see why she might think human laws something to be obeyed or disobeyed at will.

"No…" I admitted slowly; then a way out of the dilemma occurred to me, "but I do obey Carlisle as my coven leader. So if he told me to drive at the speed limit, I would." Good thing Nessie couldn't tell if I was lying…and Carlisle drove as fast as any of us, anyway. "Even if you don't understand the reasons, Nessie," I continued, "you need to obey the humans because I'm telling you to, and I'm your father and a vampire."

She still looked uncertain.

"I have to be able to trust you with this, Nessie," I insisted. "Or you can stay home with Mama Esme until you look old enough to be in the same class as me."

Nessie's eyes went wide, her thoughts once again fearful that I was "mad" at her.

I sighed and pulled her into my lap. "Renesmée, no matter what happens — even if I'm angry with you — I will always love you. And I'm not angry."

 _You…aren't?_

"No, baby; of course not." I hadn't meant my words as a threat of punishment. Nessie was a good girl, but this conversation was proving that she could be a handful even for a vampire; I wasn't going to inflict that responsibility on humans without the assurance that she wasn't going to take advantage of them. "Do you promise to obey the humans for me, angel?"

She nodded. _Unless they ask me to drink human blood…_

A snort of laughter escaped me. "Trust me, Nessie, no human's going to ask you to do _that_ ," I assured her dryly. "Of course, if they tell you to do anything that would tempt you beyond your control, you have my permission to disobey. And we're talking about humans I leave you with, not random strangers on the street; if a stranger asks you to do something you're not comfortable with, you run away — at vampire speed, if necessary. But if it's a human I leave in charge of you, you do what they say, understand?"

She nodded. _Okay, Daddy._

 _Okay, Daddy_. Such sweet words. Words that meant she was taking my word for something she didn't fully understand. Words that meant she trusted me without question. My sweet, innocent little girl. No, she had no idea what I had wanted to do to her; I could only pray she never would.

The End

 *** Illustration for this scene can be found at femalechauvinist . deviantart . com** _[slash]_ **art com** _[slash]_ **Impractical-Shoes-710442591**

 **** Illustration for this scene can be found at femalechauvinist . deviantart . com com** _[slash]_ **art com** _[slash]_ **Treehouse-Hideaway-710442750**

 **# Illustration for this scene can be found at femalechauvinist . deviantart . com com** _[slash]_ **art com** _[slash]_ **Roofer-Girl-710442859**

 _I proofread all my stories at least once before posting, but if you see any mistakes I might have missed, please let me know!_

 _Please note that I have internet access only once a week, and may not have time to respond to all reviews/messages. If you have questions regarding my Twilight alternate history, check my profile first to see if they're answered there. Thanks for your understanding! Barbie_


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